ATL

ATL Conference 2008

Minister of State for Schools and Learners Jim Knight's speech to ATL Conference 2008

Thank you, Mary, for that kind introduction. I'm delighted to be here today in person addressing your annual conference. And as a Dorset resident, it gives me especially great pleasure to welcome you all to the wild west. The last conference I addressed here in Torquay was for IT teachers. As I couldn't be there in person, I bravely made my first ever virtual appearance as an avatar in Second Life.

Those of you familiar with virtual worlds will understand the inevitable myriad of problems. How honest about hair loss should we be? How can we preserve ministerial dignity? And I won't tell you the palpitations it caused the press office as I worked up a robust defence for any possible associations made between my cartoon-like alter-ego and Looney Tunes.

But the serious point here is that thinking about what sort of world we want to create for ourselves and for future generations is what my job is all about. And because of the leading role that she has played in helping to shape our vision, I'd like to start by paying special thanks to your general secretary.

Over the past 18 months since I became schools minister, Mary has always provided me with unstinting, frank and honest advice. Supportive when she has needed to be; but equally never afraid to tell me what she thinks and what all of you think. And while we don't always agree on the precise details about how we get there, she has a burning passion for teaching and learning that is both inspirational and informed by a clear moral compass.

The same kind of moral purpose that I know attracted so many of you into this most critical of professions and has now made teaching the second most popular career choice for graduates. The very purpose that makes working with all of you such a privilege. And the exact purpose that has shaped our Children's Plan.

The great moral and political figure of our day, Nelson Mandela, said that education was "the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." And we must continue to deploy that weapon to deliver the further change this country needs. Eleven years ago we needed to change this country. And we have made great progress - in large part thanks to you. But we aren't there yet.

Not until every child gets the world-class education they deserve. Not until poverty and disadvantage are no longer markers for underachievement. Not until all children can achieve their ambitions and fulfil their potential.

I know we are not only united in these ambitions, but all believe in the immense power of education to achieve that lasting change. And so I want to talk today about four ways in which we can support you in realising your ambitions for children, by:

• supporting teachers and helping you to fulfil your potential

• making sure that you can call on the help you need from your allies across the whole of the children's workforce

• building the strongest possible relationships with parents; and

• helping you to give every child the best possible start in life and equipping every young person with the skills they need to succeed.

First, supporting teachers and helping you to fulfil your potential. It is only because of your achievements that we can set our sights so high. It's no surprise to me that Ofsted tells us we have the best new teachers we've ever had. Because the results speak for themselves.

A decade ago, children were underachieving at all key stages. Now, we've got 80 per cent of 11 year olds reaching the expected level in English; 60 per cent of secondary pupils achieving 5 or more higher level GCSEs; and almost 900 schools with over 70 per cent of pupils getting five higher GCSEs. But to go further we need to make sure you have the support and help you need.

I know we ask a lot of you. The future of the country is no small burden to carry on your shoulders.

We recently celebrated the fifth anniversary of the signing of the National Agreement, which established the Social Partnership. It is a unique and historic arrangement - and Mary has been at the heart of it throughout, making sure your views and interests are being looked after. It not only recognises the importance of your role, but has allowed the successful remodelling of the workforce. And we need to protect and build on the gains we have already won.

Not expecting you to work longer hours to achieve more; but keeping up the downward pressure on your working hours. And not rewarding and relieving teachers at the expense of teaching assistants - I am absolutely determined to get the new support staff working group up and running this year to deliver more consistency and progression for this crucial group of professionals. So we want to help all of you be the best you can.

I know that many of you already look to continue your own professional development throughout your careers. But to reflect the quality we need to deliver a world-class education for every child, we need to boost the status of teaching even further.

That's why we have just published details of how we will make teaching a Masters level profession - by introducing a new qualification the 'Masters in Teaching and Learning', that will eventually be available to all teachers but will initially be focussed on those teachers in their first five years. The new qualification will complement performance management and be delivered and funded through the TDA, who will work with ATL and all the social partners to make sure it is available to some teachers starting their initial teacher training this September.

And that's why we want a tough line to be taken on those that do the opposite and attack teaching staff. Following your recent survey, let me say that it is totally unacceptable for any teacher to be subjected to verbal, let alone physical, aggression. Schools, pupils and parents must all be clear that neither verbal nor physical aggression towards teachers will be tolerated. And if it does happen, we want to see schools using the ground-breaking powers they've been given to tackle bad behaviour.

But valuing teachers is not enough on its own. There is more we need to do to help you realise your ambitions for children and young people. So my second point is that we must make sure that you can call on the help you need from your allies across the whole of children's workforce.

Children only spend 14 per cent if their time in school and looking at what happens beyond the school gates is part and parcel of improving achievement for every child. And other parts of the children's workforce are your natural allies because they share the same moral purpose I talked about earlier. But I know that on too many occasions, you still find it too difficult to get specialist support from other children's services when you need them.

I'm sure many of you will be able to talk about instances where you have tried to get support from other services - if a boy can't communicate well because he needs a speech therapist, or a girl who won't socialise, and needs a referral to CAMHs to find out why. We don't want to turn you into social workers or psychologists. That's not what this is about. But it is about schools and other professionals working more closely together with parents, and to help children and families get the help they need - and earlier - so that problems are prevented wherever possible. However hard it might seem at times, I know we can achieve this because of the fact that you all want the best for every child.

And part of the solution must be Children's Trusts forming stronger relationships with schools and everyone across the whole of children's services being accountable for the services they provide. But, as you know, it's not just about building stronger relationships with other services it is also about the third leg of support - building the strongest possible relationships with parents. Because just as quality teaching is at the root of quality schooling, evidence shows that if parents - and especially fathers - are engaged in their children's education, the children do better at school.

Teachers want the best for their pupils. Parents want the best for their children. A successful school is due to great teaching. A successful child to great parenting.

We need a personal alliance for every child in this country between parent and teacher. A bond between home and school to improve learning, teaching and behaviour. Most parents are not sharp elbowed, and they are not abusive. They are quietly waiting to help - to help their children and their children's teachers but unsure how to start. That is why I want to see online reporting in all secondary schools. This doesn't mean I want you bombarded with emails from parents. It does mean that you will have a new channel of communication and the things you are doing already - setting homework, recording grades and recording attendance - will work harder for you.

Teachers at the schools where it's already being used - like Shireland Academy in the Black Country - don't just say it improves their relationship with parents, but it saves them time. And enlisting their support gives a behaviour dividend, as well as an education dividend. Parents want to know sooner rather than later if there is a problem and to together nip it in the bud.

So we need to value teachers and teaching more. We need to link staff with other children's professionals better. We need to enlist parents as allies in teaching and learning. And fourthly we need to use your skills better in the classroom.

As I've said we have made huge progress in improving standards. But too many children still don't achieve good qualifications and fail to fulfil their potential. And often it's the poorest children who achieve least. The Children's Plan puts personalisation more than ever before at the heart of every child's learning. And because we want the rest to follow the example of the best, we are backing this ambition with £1.6 billion to help extend personalised learning across all schools. To let you use your professional judgment to focus on each child's progression - not just the level they have reached now, but where they have come from and how high they should be reaching.

By setting ambitious goals for each child, but that are realistic and achievable because they are based on a robust and detailed understanding of their progress against the National Curriculum. To help spread the best assessment more widely, we're spending £150m over the next three years to support continuing professional development for school staff in Assessment for Learning. This will let teachers and senior leaders from every primary and secondary school learn the techniques they need to assess and track pupil progress, starting with writing and maths.

ATL has made a significant contribution to the debate about assessment over the years. And we want you to go on doing that: our commitment to progression can only happen if there is an equal commitment to assessment for learning. It is also a key part of our Making Good Progress pilot, which began in September. I was glad to hear that Mary will be representing our union partners on the stakeholder group for this pilot. And let me reassure you that we are determined to see more emphasis on teacher assessment, using tests to confirm judgements, rather than supplant them.

It is still early days. But as many of you will have seen for yourselves and in your schools, where this is happening the impact can be dramatic. So it is only right that we make it a reality in every classroom.

Today, I am also welcoming the interim report of the Primary Maths Review, led by Sir Peter Williams, chancellor of Leicester University and former chair of the Advisory Committee on Maths Education. As well as highlighting the central role of teachers and parents, he has set out some important questions about the attitudes we have towards maths. In particular, why is it that this is one of the few countries where it is acceptable, fashionable even, to declare that you are useless at maths?

Maths is central to giving children the best start and the right skills for life. If children can't add up, and if maths isn't valued or seen as being important, how can we expect them in secondary school to understand science, or manage their own finances when they go to college. This isn't just a task for teachers alone - it's for all of us. I'd like to thank ATL for their submission, which particularly drew attention to the role that parents can play. We need as a nation to be more confident about maths, and address the numeracy skills gaps if we are to deliver the skills needs of the economy.

And it is in part the need to develop those skills that informs our boldest statement of our moral purpose - the move to raise the education leaving age to 18. As you will be only too aware, raising the participation age is not just change for change's sake. It's a necessary way of making sure that every young person is able to gain the kinds of high level skills that they will need if they're to succeed in the future. And while GCSEs and A Levels remain an excellent ladder to success for many young people, they're not the right choice for every young person. Equally apprenticeships are hugely valued as a way into a specific occupation - but they are not right for everyone.

So for those who want to combine academic study with practical learning and work experience, we are introducing the new Diplomas. Like anything that's new, they are inevitably more difficult at first. Many of you will have concerns about their implementation and practical issues like transport between schools, particularly in rural areas. Coming from Dorset, I know how important it is that we don't create a system that favours those in cities and towns. The Diploma Funding Grant should help to overcome many such problems.

And I've seen the excellent ATL paper and will respond another day to the points raised because we are committed to working with you to overcome these issues. But in the meantime we acknowledge that there are challenges to delivering 14-19 reforms in rural areas, particularly around access to provision and employer engagement.

To help local areas meet these challenges, we will shortly be publishing a Rural Delivery report, which will, amongst other things, include information upon travel patterns, employer make-up, and deprivation in rural areas to help schools, colleges, employers, and local authorities plan for the delivery of Diplomas. This morning, I visited South Devon College, which is amongst those that will be offering the Diplomas from September. And I saw and heard the enthusiasm about this new way of learning ...

And today I can announce the results of the second Gateway process. By September 2009, when young people will have access to 10 of the 17 lines, more than seven out of ten schools, and almost nine out of ten colleges will be involved in Diploma consortia. We have created a package of support that can be tailored to consortia's local circumstances.

This includes a personalised feedback meeting to discuss the specific support needed to ensure successful delivery in September 2009. Over the next 18 months consortia will have access to a full range of Diploma and Functional Skills support for their leaders and practitioners which will include support on successful employer engagement and information advice and guidance. We're also providing £30,000 for every Diploma line approved for delivery from September 2009 to support local capacity building.

This set of qualification choices, underpinned by the new foundation learning tier, will offer high quality choices for all our young people. There will be some who will need new alternative provision to be developed to engage them in learning. And there will continue to be a need to financially support those from more disadvantaged homes.

These currently receive the Education Maintenance Allowance, which pays up to £30 a week to those from low income households. Without this support, those young people would have given up on learning. Many would be stuck in dead-end jobs with no prospects. Others would be living off the state. But these young people are now gaining qualifications that will help them go on to lead happy and successful lives.

Young people like Natalie Francis who had moved around foster homes and been labelled "difficult". She recently re-sat her GCSEs at Selby College, achieved better grades and is now studying for A Levels. And she said: "Without it I wouldn't have joined college in the first place, and certainly wouldn't have stayed on for three years - I just couldn't have afforded it."

Nor should people be closed off from choices by special educational need. The Foundation Learning Tier will provide a ladder to learning for young people who have disengaged or are at risk of disengaging from education or training, and for those with special educational needs. It will let them progress at the right pace for them - but with clear stepping stones towards Diplomas, GCSEs or Apprenticeships.

Last week, I visited a school where an amazing 95% of pupils go on to further education. Where pupils had just come back from New York where they'd represented the UK in the UN conference for schools. And where the school's leaders work in collaboration with other local schools to help drive up standards across the area.

This school wasn't in one of the areas where we might have expected to find the best schools. It was Mulberry School for Girls in Tower Hamlets. Where the majority of its students are eligible for free school meals. But education is changing their lives. So much so that the journalist with me that day, who was from Winchester, told me that she would love for her own daughter to get those kinds of opportunities.

I know that you are all committed to providing these kinds of opportunities to all children. And we are committed to supporting you to do so. Together, we can give every child a world class education, narrow the attainment gap; and make our country a fairer place to grow up for every child.